by Carver Pike
“Whoa, calm down. Who is this Belgrave guy anyway?”
“Basically, he’s the unofficial president of the Slums. He controls everything,” Haylay replied.
“Look, I don’t plan to be here long enough to worry about all that. We’ve gotta go to the Vulkner Theater tomorrow night and end this.”
“Why there?” Sergio asked.
“Alleycat’s gonna be performing in a show. On the other side, Allie moved to New York with our boss, Charlie, because Charlie’s brother owned an opera house and was going to make a place for her in his show tomorrow night.”
“How do you know it’s tomorrow night?” Lisa asked.
“I don’t, really. I just have to follow my gut on this one,” he answered.
“Well, if you’re really this Haissem they claim you are, then that gut of yours better do more than just process food,” Dozier said.
He laughed, enjoying his own sense of humor.
“Haissem?” Haylay asked. “Like the Haissem?”
“Can we forget about the Haissem stuff? I told you all before…” Gabe began.
“Yeah, the Soothsayer said he was the Haissem,” Sergio answered Haylay’s question.
Haylay wagged a finger in Gabe’s direction.
“Yeah, you’re a dead dude if Belgrave hears that you’re this Haissem,” he said.
“What’s his grudge with the Haissem?” Lisa asked.
“Honey, do you know anything?” Haylay snapped at Lisa. “The Haissem is supposed to fix all this…”
He spun around with open arms, gesturing at everything around him.
“All this shit. And if he fixes it, there ain’t gonna be nothin’ left for Belgrave to run. He makes money off controlling these fools. So what’s he gonna do when there’s no fools to control?”
“I just want to get out of here and go home,” Gabe said.
“Well, if you’re going to the Vulkner Theater, you’re as crazy as I thought,” Haylay announced. “Belgrave owns the Vulkner Theater.”
“Cutter’s gonna kill Allie on the other side…at the theater,” Gabe said.
“How do you even know it’s gonna happen that way? What if this is all a waste of time?” Dozier asked.
“Cutter’s living out my darkest desires, and that’s what I’d do. Kill her when she’s the most excited, when she’s about to live out her dream. That’s when I’d remind her of who she hurt to get there,” Gabe said.
“That’s some cold shit, bro,” Sergio replied.
“Cutter wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Since they didn’t have any plans until the following night, and everyone was exhausted, it was agreed that they would find somewhere to hide out and get some rest. Haylay knew just the place. It was a hotel he’d used many times while trying to enhance his career. The only difference between a hooker and a high priced call girl is the location where you do your deeds, and Haylay had visited nearly every place available in the Slums, with just about every kind of person imaginable.
When he picked the Dupont Inn, he did so knowing that it wouldn’t be a spot that Belgrave was likely to visit.
The outside of the building consisted of brick that was doing its best to hang on. It looked as if it had been through a war or two. The sign was wooden and hung by only one of its two chains, causing the sign to swing and spin around in the wind. The other chain was broken and dangled down.
No bellhop waited to take their bags or valet to park their car. None of that mattered. They only needed a bed. A roof over their heads would be nice, but any of them would have been excited to plop down on a bed up on the roof if need be.
They entered the rickety hotel. Inside, a dull yellow light crackled and threatened to plunge them into darkness at any moment. The floor creaked with each step. A drunken man lay across the floor near the empty front desk.
“Yoo hoo, anybody home?” Haylay called out.
Two hands gripped the opposite end of the front desk and a frail, weasely man with cracked spectacles pulled himself up to his feet. His hair was thin and slicked back so that the scalp could clearly be seen beneath it. One of the lenses of his glasses was popped out and he kept that eye closed. He wiped at the orange powder on his upper lip.
A strange girly giggle came from beneath the desk and the man kicked whoever was making the sound, causing a grunt and then silence.
“Uh,” he said with a laugh. “Whutcha need?”
Dozier walked away from the front desk shaking his head. “Another damned coral head.”
“We need some rooms,” Gabe said.
“How many?” the clerk asked.
Gabe looked back at the others to get an idea. Haylay snapped his fingers as he told Gabe how it was going to be.
“Baby, if I’m stayin’ with you ‘till tomorrow night, then I’ll be needin’ my own room. And I ain’t payin’,” he said.
Conductor moved closer to Haylay and winked at him.
“Ain’t wanna be sharin’ da der room wit me en? Huh, sexy mama?” he said with another wink.
“In your dreams, darlin’.” Haylay pointed at Gabe and Lisa. “But y’all two need to share a room. Y’all gotta stop playin’ games and do your thang.”
Gabe looked over at Lisa, who blushed and shrugged her shoulders. The clerk raised his eyebrows and shook his head in frustration.
“Ain’t got all day! Hurry the hell up!” he griped.
Dozier bit his lip and moved forward to give the man a piece of his mind, but Sergio held a hand out in front of his chest to stop him. He shook his head. Starting problems with an image when the group was already in dangerous territory wouldn’t be wise.
“Give us four rooms. All next to each other if you can,” Gabe said.
“I don’t know if I can manage that,” the clerk said sarcastically. “It is tourist season.”
A short time later, Gabe and Lisa entered their room. Gabe locked the door behind them. The room was surprisingly cozy, and quite clean. As he glanced around the room he found it hard to imagine that an image cleaning lady actually showed up every day to clean the rooms. There seemed to be much more order in the Slums than there was anywhere else he’d seen so far on the dark side.
One queen-sized bed sat in the center of the room, nicely made. There was no mint on the pillow, but the sheets were clean. There was no mini bar or TV featuring free HBO, but there was a small dresser. A door in the corner caught their attention.
“Oh my God,” Lisa said as she stepped into the center of the room.
“A bathroom?” Gabe asked, not positive that it would be a working bathroom.
“I’m afraid to even look. I would give anything to take a hot shower and wash this muck off of me.”
She gestured to her arms, which were covered with the dried murky water from the Rancid Pools. Gabe opened the door to see that it was in fact a bathroom. He leaned over to flush the toilet.
“Toilet works,” he announced.
“The room’s actually kind of cute,” Lisa said as she pulled open the top drawer of the dresser.
“Not very romantic, but at least we can get some rest,” Gabe said as he walked out of the bathroom and stood next to her. He looked into the empty drawer. “Didn’t think you’d find a Bible in there, did you?”
***
Dozier entered his room right behind Language. When he turned to lock the door, Language rammed into him, driving her knee into his spine. He smacked against the door. His face bounced off the wood, rattling the chain lock that dangled from it.
“The fuck?” Dozier hollered. “You done lost your mind?”
He tried to reach for his axe, but she snatched it off his back and threw it to the ground. He spun around and swung at her. She ducked and reached for his belt. Just as he was about to reach for his gun, she shoved her hand down the front of his pants and locked lips with him.
She slid her mouth down to his neck while she continued to grope him. Dozier was stunned; only two seconds before he’d though
t he was being seriously attacked and was about to kill this woman.
Now he wanted nothing more than to slam her down onto the bed. Language dropped to her knees. Dozier’s bald head fell back against the door as he allowed the image woman to unzip his pants.
He hardened faster than expected and her lips wrapped around him. Her hand stroked his cock, squeezing just right, pinching his semi-erect dick as she jerked him up and down. For a girl with no tongue she sure knew how to give a blowjob.
“Damn,” he mumbled, “Yur sure changin’ my mind ‘bout image girls.”
Without removing her mouth, she reached down and undid her own pants. She slid them down to her thighs.
She stood, gripped his cock, and kicked off her shoes. She slid her pants off then shoved him up against the door. She stood on her tiptoes and tried to direct him into her but it wasn’t working.
Dozier knew what to do. He grabbed the back of her head, taking her hair in a firm grip and grabbed her left ass cheek in his other hand. He lifted her up and she gasped as she wrapped her legs around him.
He lowered her down onto his erect member, feeling all of her warm wetness as his cock slid inside.
“Ahh,” she yelled. “Unnh!”
“Dozier’s got ya baby,” he said as he lifted her up and slammed her back down onto him again.
He dove with her onto the bed and plowed her into the mattress. She cried out as he fucked all of his anger and aggression and sadness and secret fears. Language felt it all.
***
Sergio stood in his room, staring down at the queen-sized bed, where Conductor was already resting. He looked up at Sergio, smiled, and patted the empty space next to him.
“This is bullshit,” Sergio swore.
“Lay down fella,” Conductor suggested. “An don’tcha be tryin’ a touchin’ on me in a night.”
Sergio took two steps forward and lifted a fist, threatening to punch the man. Conductor lifted his hands up in defense.
“I’s a just kiddin’!”
“Fuck you, man! I’m sleepin’ on the floor.”
***
Haylay was the only one completely comfortable with an entire bed all to himself. It had been a long time since he’d slept in a soft bed without having to worry about pleasing a client first.
Where he lived, in the back room of an old general store, there was only a thin cot mattress and nice vanity he’d stolen years back. Other than his fancy clothes and make up, those were his only two belongings. His cot mattress came nowhere close to this nice hotel one.
He closed his eyes and spread his arms out wide.
“Being a diva ain’t always this easy,” he said to himself.
***
Back in Gabe and Lisa’s room, Gabe was lying alone on the bed. He’d taken his shirt off and tried to get as comfortable as he possibly could without a change of clothes.
Lisa had immediately called dibs on the shower and so he lay there, staring up at the ceiling, waiting his turn. Being in a comfortable room was deceiving. He felt as if everything he’d experienced during the day had only been a dream. He knew the truth, but allowed himself the comfort of imagining that he was on a date with Lisa and had rented a cheap hotel room for the two of them.
Lisa…he closed his eyes and wondered if he would have ever hooked up with her on the other side. Would he have ever come on to her? And why hadn’t he? Once, at a company Christmas party, after a few too many drinks, he caught himself staring at the back of Lisa’s skirt, trying to figure out what kind of underwear she had on. Probably not a thong, but granny underwear didn’t suit her either. He figured she was somewhere in between. She’d almost caught him in the act. He’d felt guilty for thinking of her that way.
Somehow, deep down, he’d always felt that she was too good for him and deserved someone more poised, more respectable, more successful.
Gabe listened to the sound of the shower pouring down in the other room. He got up and entered the steam-filled bathroom quietly. He wasn’t a pervert by any means, but he couldn’t stop himself from glancing at the sliding glass door, hoping to catch a peek of Lisa’s bare body.
He felt like a giddy little boy doing something wrong. The steam from the shower made the door barely transparent so all that could be seen was her distorted silhouette.
Steam rose from the top of the shower. Gabe turned his attention to his reflection in the mirror. He wiped the steam away to get a clearer look at himself. He touched his reflection and shook his head in disbelief. The thought of the simple piece of reflective glass being the doorway to an absurd world seemed so…well…absurd.
“Are you okay?” he called out to Lisa.
Lisa gasped.
“You scared me. I didn’t know you were in here,” she said.
“Sorry, I just…”
“It’s okay. I don’t mind.”
“The quiet room was kind of getting to me out there. It feels too normal.”
“If this were a normal situation, we wouldn’t be together,” she said.
Gabe remained silent. He didn’t know how to respond. He’d been thinking the same thing only moments before.
“It’s okay,” Lisa assured him. “I didn’t mean to put you on the spot. I’m glad that I’m here with you.”
An awkward silence passed between them. Finally, Gabe spoke up.
“Me too,” he said.
Another pause between them, not awkward this time, just a moment of realization. He wanted to say more, but couldn’t find the words. He’d never been good at saying the right things. Poetry was completely foreign to him. He wished that he had a Hallmark catalog in front of him so he could pick out the right one and read loving words to her, but his mind was a total blank.
“I’m gonna lie down until you’re finished,” he said. “Try and save me some hot water, huh?”
“Wait,” Lisa blurted.
Gabe waited, his hand on the doorknob. His heart beat wildly. It was hard to breathe. It seemed to take forever for Lisa to speak.
“Will you come in here with me, Gabe?” she finally asked.
Gabe didn’t know what to say. To turn down the invitation would be foolish, especially since all he could think about was joining her. He’d noticed that her voice had been a bit shaky though. She was nervous, and he needed to consider her feelings.
Entering the shower with her would change things forever. They would become either much more or much less. Either way, things would never be the same.
“Lisa, maybe we should talk about this.”
It wasn’t that he didn’t want her; he just wanted to make sure that she was ready for this. He didn’t want her to do something she would regret.
“Please?” Lisa asked.
“Are you sure?” Gabe replied.
“I am.”
Slowly, Gabe unbuttoned his pants and let them fall to the floor. He could feel her watching him and he wondered how much she could see. With his underwear stripped off, he hung free. He stood for a moment, completely naked, and tried to imagine what it would be like on the other side of that door.
Would she get shy and ask him to leave?
Would she have her eyes closed?
Would she be timid and hold back or would she immediately take him in her hand and begin stroking him?
He looked down at himself and saw that he was already growing at the thought of being naked in the shower with her. He wanted her. He felt a strange queasiness in his stomach and realized he was nervous. His desire for her was different than it had been for Ivy. This time, he just wanted to be near her. No, he wanted to be inside her.
He slid the shower door open slowly and zoomed in on Lisa’s face as he entered the shower. She stood with her eyes closed, water spraying against her. He watched as her breasts moved with each heavy breath.
Ivy had tits. Lisa, breasts. And they were beautiful.
Her lips trembled a little.
Her hair was wet and slicked back, all except for one strand that hung
down over her forehead and touched her cheek. Her skin was as smooth as silk.
She opened her eyes and stared into his face. He found himself lost in her eyes. They gazed at him with such longing, such desire and relentless love. A bead of water hung from one of her lashes and she blinked to free it.
Gabe was afraid to make the first move, and he sensed that she was, too. But then again, she had invited him into the shower with her. Finally, he blinked his eyes and then opened them with his gaze lowered.